Parents plan for COVID-free Halloween

Parents are getting extra-creative this Halloween – planning fright-night festivities that promise to be fun while also keeping their kids safe.

One family is combining two holiday traditions by planning an Easter egg hunt with a Halloween aesthetic, according to MLive.

Another family is foregoing their usual Halloween party, but still plans to go trick-or-treating – albeit in a socially-distanced way.

“I’m really excited because one of my engineering classes is programming a robot to give out candy without the kids touching it,” said one west Michigan school teacher.

Health officials and city leaders are urging people to hold back on typical Halloween activities this year in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a list of recommendations on its website for ways to celebrate safely.

• Wear a COVID face mask that matches your costume.
• Plan a socially-distanced costume parade.
• Come up with a creative way to hand out candy that doesn’t involve coming face-to-face with trick-or-treaters, such as the above-mentioned robot or even a simple candy slide.
• Stay home and watch a scary movie or two.

Kalamazoo’s city leaders are similarly warning people to avoid large gatherings in favor of smaller, safer celebrations.

“We strongly recommend that everybody is to wear masks, number one, and number two, try to avoid groups,” said Kalamazoo’s Deputy City Manager Jeff Chamberlain in an interview with WMUK. “A lot of the recommendations are related to staying with the family unit.”